The horrific attacks at Pulwama that killed more than 40 of our CRPF jawans happened about a week ago. Much has been said and threatened and demanded in our national discourse in the days since then. People have been baying for war, calling for economic boycotts, sports boycotts, sackings and more. While Indian leaders have promised ‘retaliation’ and ‘revenge’ Pakistani leaders have taken belligerent stances that promise counter-retaliation. Meanwhile, on the ground, Kashmiris across India have been targeted in various ways.
Asking for war and making abusive posts about Pakistan on social media have become the go-to methods of India’s armchair warriors for expressing their supposed patriotism or ‘desh bhakti’. Calling for the boycott of everything Pakistani, from their products to their artists to their sportspersons is another. For a populace grieving for its martyrs and feeling helplessness about a shadowy enemy who attacks and kills at will, this is understandable. This is also understandable because we Indians are struggling to find ways to end this bloody proxy war that has been waged upon us for so long; which has claimed countless lives and which places constant pressure upon our men and women in uniform.
That is less explicable is the way that Kashmiris living, working and studying in various parts of India have been targeted this time around. Kashmiri students in various college campuses have been attacked and hounded and asked to leave. Some were injured, some barricaded themselves inside their rooms and many felt compelled to flee back home. Some Kashmiri traders and shops/ emporiums, a ubiquitous sight at any Indian tourist location were also attacked; some of their shops ransacked. Some Kashmiri tenants were asked to leave by their landlords. A personage no less than the governor of Meghalaya, Tathagat Roy made some incendiary and highly irresponsible statements from his Twitter handle.
I remember a time when an angry Shiv Sena would call for the boycott of Pak players, cancellation of matches and banning of Pak artistes as a reaction to a cease fire violation or aggression from Pakistan. Most Indian citizens would either ignore or oppose such suggestions. Now such calls are supported and lauded.
A popular sports site expunged mention of Pak crickets from its website. Visas were refused to be granted to Pak shooters about to visit India for an event. Nationalistic celebrities such as Kangana Ranaut and Anupam Kher have also called for boycott, retaliation and so on. Ranaut said that those talking of peace should be ‘slapped on the street’ and called for the ‘destruction’ of Pakistan. Given their strong views, the fact that their films Manikarnika and Accidental Prime Minster are currently running in Pak theatres is strange but irrelevant.
The nation’s shouter in chief Arnab Goswami has also declared Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar antinational. Why? Because they were of the view that India should not refuse to play Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup. This is a pattern and not a particularly useful one. For instance, how does it help that someone like (the admittedly annoying) Navjot Sidhu, is sacked from a TV show for saying that the entire nation shouldn’t be blamed for the acts of some?
As a fauji wife I would always hope that there is no war though I have every confidence in the capability of our men and women in uniform taking on any enemy and emerging victorious. However, asking for war because some people are angry and want revenge is reprehensible. And pointless. War takes a terrible toll on everyone concerned and has long-term consequences for our own citizens, economy and the cost to our military and military families is incalculable.
The idea that refusing to play with Pakistan or not permitting their performances in India would in any way impact terror organisations or the Pakistani deep state, their beliefs and actions, is laughable. Yes, it permits us to make a gesture – condemning the enemy and supporting and expressing solidarity for our troops – but in the end, this is meaningless.
By attacking and condemning Kashmiris, we are doing two terrible things: we are telling some of our fellow citizens that we do not consider them Indian and we undermine their integration into the national fabric. Plus we are playing into the hands of those who propound the two-nation theory, further the narrative of minority victimhood and contribute directly and indirectly to communal radicalisation. The very people who seek to divide and terrorise us are succeeding when we allow this to happen. The CRPF who itself lost 40 of its own tweeted this in support of persecuted Kashmiris. It is shameful that this was necessary.
So what is the way forward? Right now we have few answers. More questions. We must think long and hard about what to do going forward. Knee jerk reactions frequently result in self-inflicted injury. We need well thought out solutions that are about preventing another Pulwama, ever again, about reducing alienation of Kashmiris, preventing radicalisation and militancy and preventing local support for them. The demonisation and punishment of the common citizens of an entire country or the persecution and ghettoisation of some of our own citizens is not the answer.
Do you have something interesting you would like to share? Write to us at [email protected]
